What is the LAC Scholarship?
Pursuant to Florida Statute 1009.21, students who are citizens from Latin America and the Caribbean (including Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands) may be eligible to be designated as Latin American - Caribbean Scholarship recipients. A Latin American - Caribbean Scholarship recipient will be classified as a Florida resident for tuition purposes only. LAC Scholarship recipients must be awarded an additional $500 scholarship in order to retain Florida resident status for the summer terms. In summary, FSU requires that a $500 non-duty scholarship be awarded to each eligible student every semester. E&G funds must be used by departments and units to award this scholarship with the provision that matching funds from private sources can also be utilized. (US Federal Awards are also allowed.)
Note: The process for awarding the Latin American-Caribbean Scholarship (LACS) is completed by the student's department and questions regarding eligibility should be directed to the student's Department/Unit or Academic Dean's Office.
Who is Eligible?
Citizens from the following countries are eligible for the LAC scholarship:
Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, Argentina, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Cayman, Islands, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Curacao, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Falkland Islands, French Guiana, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Martinique, Mexico, Montserrat, Netherlands Antilles, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Martin, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad & Tobago, Turks & Caicos Islands, Uruguay, Venezuela, U.K. Virgin Islands, U.S. Virgin Islands.
LAC Scholarship Criteria
LAC Scholarship recipients must meet the following criteria:
- Must be a degree-seeking student
- Must be making satisfactory academic progress and enrolled full-time
- Must maintain full-time enrollment status as a student (12 hours for purposes of the LAC scholarship). Beginning the Fall 2024 term, full-time enrollment for graduate students is considered 9 hours. Full-time enrollment for undergraduate students is still considered 12 hours.
Note: Graduate or research assistantships do not fulfill the definition of scholarship. Recipients who change majors or graduate and begin a second degree program must reapply for the LAC scholarship. Students who, for any reason, lose their LAC scholarship status will revert to out-of-state tuition classification. If a LAC recipient withdraws from the University, the scholarship is cancelled.
Full-time Enrollment for LAC Scholarship
The University must follow state statutes and federal regulations regarding state and federal funding eligibility, therefore the University defines full-time enrollment for the purposes of the LAC Scholarship to be the following:
- 6 hours if enrolled in Session A only
- 6 hours if enrolled in Session B only
- 12 hours if undergraduate and enrolled in Session C only
- 9 hours if graduate and enrolled in Session C only
- 6 hours if enrolled in Session D only
- 6 hours if enrolled in Session F only
- 6 hours if enrolled in a combination of the above Summer sessions
